Contents

Appearance

Koga is identical in physical appearance to his game counterpart. His clothing varies throughout the series' medium, in which his first appearance depicted him wearing a bandanna like cloth, except for when he becomes a member of the Johto Elite Four in the HG/SS arc, with his clothing resembling that of his game counterpart's.

Personality

Koga's personality is first depicted to be cruel and merciless, as shown during his battle against Blue and Red in Pokémon Tower, as he uses Articuno to nearly freeze the pair to death. However, after their conflict, Koga returns once more to face off against the Elite Four member Agatha, teaming up with his nemesis, Blue to defeat her, and displays more admirable characteristics such as bravery and concern for others.

Biography

Giovanni placed Lt. Surge, Sabrina and Koga as his three subordinates, who trained the grunts,[1] while Giovanni was inspiring them with speeches.[2] Despite serving Giovanni, Koga didn't have much time to train himself.[3]

Koga taught her daughter, Janine, more about battling. He stated one day she would also serve Giovanni.[4]

Red, Green & Blue arc

Koga and his Rhyhorn encountered Misty and Red skulking around Mt. Moon. His Pikachu reflected Rhyhorn's Rock Throw, so Koga pulled out a syringe and injected Rhyhorn, forcing it to evolve. Misty spoke up, demanding to know if Team Rocket did that to her Gyarados. Koga responds tauntingly, saying that he could not remember every Pokémon that was experimented on. Misty was provoked, and attacked Rhydon with her Staryu. Staryu used a water-type attack, which Rhydon redirected away with Horn Drill. This threw Misty back into the wall, causing her to hit her head and collapse unconscious. Rhydon stomped on Pikachu and used Horn Drill to make boulders fall on Red. Instead, Pikachu, who electrocuted Rhydon, flew off and caused a boulder to fall down, nearly crushing Team Rocket. Koga took his hat off, frustrated that his enemies had escaped, as the boulder sealed off a passage.[5] Red was bragging about his fight with Team Rocket at Misty's mansion. Misty claimed Koga and the grunts may not have been the best forces Team Rocket had to offer, and proposed some training with Red.[6]

Blue, who came to Lavender Tower, was possessed by Koga's Gastly, to stop him from interfering in Team Rocket's plans. Eventually, Red brought Blue back to his senses by defeating Gastly, and they climbed the tower. Suddenly, the two were attacked, and Blue had Golduck rescue them. Koga appeared, which made Red realize that was the guy he encountered at Mt. Moon. Blue had Charmeleon attack Koga, who was only a projection and was controlling the dead Pokémon Gastly had possessed from a distance. Koga had an Arbok pursue them both, and even had it use Acid on Charmeleon. Charmeleon survived, as the Acid actually hit a dead Psyduck, and Charmeleon hit Arbok, slicing it in two pieces. Koga, flying with a Golbat, was furious that his plans were interrupted. He swore he would not forget what the boys did there.[7]

Koga reported his defeat to Giovanni, who went to learn more about Red at Pewter City.[8] Since Blaine defecated from Team Rocket,[9] Sabrina, Lt. Surge and Koga captured Professor Oak. They wanted him to work on Mewtwo project, but Oak refused to do so.[10] Koga caught the legendary Ice-type Pokémon, Articuno, and brought it to Saffron City. He also humiliated Sabrina, who was unable to capture Blaine.[11] With the badges Lt. Surge, Sabrina, Koga and Giovanni collected, the Team Rocket triad were able to control Zapdos, Articuno and Moltres without any disobedience.[12]

As Red fell through a trap door at Silph Co. facility, Koga encountered Blue, who immediately had his Scyther slash Koga. However, Scyther actually attacked Grimer, who held Scyther, preventing it from attacking. In addition, Grimer held Blue as well, preventing him from sending any Pokémon out. With Blue immobilized, Koga showed how Red was also being attacked by Lt. Surge. Koga told Blue how he was Professor Oak's grandson, and since Oak was not persuaded to do their work, Koga thought he'd change his mind if he saw his grandson in pain; he gave Blue a choice of surrendering or to die. Blue refused either of those choices, as his Scyther went to attack Koga. However, Scyther was restrained by Grimer, and Koga launched a Razor Wind on Blue, injuring him further. Koga noted how stubbornness lied in the family.[13] Red came to Koga, only to see the latter having Golbat finish Blue off.[14]

Red immediately sent Poliwrath to intercept the attack. However, Golbat immediately hit Poliwrath, and Koga had Grimer grasp Red as well, making him immobilized. Koga swore to finish Red off before he did with Blue. However, Blue stood up and had Pidgeot retaliate back. Koga was baffled, as Blue was supposed to be heavily injured from the Razor Wind attack. Blue explained he wore a pendant, which had reflective properties, and survived the attack. He told that if he did play dead, Koga would've called his Grimer away. Instead, Koga presented Articuno, who used Blizzard on Blue. Koga swore to injure Red, and even thanked the latter; since his Gyarados was protecting Articuno, the latter sent waves of attack and became too exhausted and was captured quite easily on Seafoam Islands. He had Articuno use Ice Beam to attack, starting to freeze Red. Blue noted how Koga was controlling Articuno very easily, as Koga showed he had badges; with those, he and others could control the Legendary Birds very easily. Articuno entirely froze Red and Blue, and made even Koga wish he'd take those two on as his assistants, if they only knew they would've been beaten. However, Blue's Charizard fired flames outside the building, heating the room up and made Red and Blue thaw out. Red and Blue had their Pikachu and Porygon attack Koga and defeat him. Blue took Koga's Soul Badge, but eventually gave it to Red.[12]

Sabrina called upon Lt. Surge's Zapdos and Koga's Articuno to fuse them with her Moltres.[10] When the amalgamation of Zapdos, Moltres and Articuno was defeated by the combined force of the three Pokédex Holders, Koga, along with the rest of the Team Rocket executives, went into hiding.[15]

Giovanni, who faced Red, noted how he faced his Team Rocket commanders, including Koga, the expert of Poison-type Pokémon.[16]

Yellow arc

Lt. Surge, Sabrina and Koga "welcomed" Blue and Blaine to Cerise Island.[17] Sabrina promised to tell what happened to her, Sabrina and Lt. Surge, but new "guests" were coming:[18]Yellow, Green and Bill.[19] The Team Rocket executives explained after Silph Co.'s destruction, the trio went into hiding. Since the Elite Four were destroying the lands they wanted to conquer, the trio proposed a temporary alliance. Since they needed more power to defeat the Elite Four, Yellow, Blaine, Green, Bill and Blue accepted. Sabrina gave all of them Spoons of Destiny, to team up two people to fight the Elite Four. Koga was paired with Blue. With everyone ready, Koga went with Blue deeper into the caves. Before they continued on, Blue returned Koga his Golbat back.[15]

As Blue and Koga wandered into the caves, Koga's Golbat used Supersonic to trace their enemy. Koga noticed a figure and threw his shuriken, but the figure moved away and sent Arbok. Blue noted their enemy was Agatha. Agatha's Arbok leered them, so Koga's Golbat used Haze to nullify the effects. Agatha taunted them that they were too young to stop her, as her Arbok used Rock Slide, making stalactites fall down. Blue rescued Koga's Golbat but dropped some medicine. In addition, he got paralyzed by Agatha's Gengar's Lick. While Blue was facing Agatha's Golbat, Koga battled against Agatha, who claimed a Gym Leader was no match for a member of the Elite Four. Agatha had her Arbok change the pattern on its body, which increased its speed. With a snap of the finger, Agatha had Arbok wrap Koga and change its patten, dealing even more damage to him and his Arbok. Still, Koga had an idea how to defeat Agatha's Arbok.[20]

Koga had his Arbok use Glare, but Agatha's Arbok resisted the effects, then used Body Slam to inflict damage to Koga and Arbok. Agatha had her Arbok bite off Koga's Arbok's tail away. Koga sent Muk to use Poison Gas and Weezing to emit Smog. However, Arbok changed its pattern, resisting the attacks, then defeated Muk and Weezing. Since Blue was still paralyzed, Koga threw a multitude of Shuriken Poké Balls randomly. Agatha mocked Koga's predicament, believing that he was out of ideas. Blue returned with Koga's Golbat, as one of the Poké Balls, in which Koga's Ekans was in, contained Parlyz Heal to cure Blue. Her Arbok's crest pattern was subsequently obscured by Koga's Golbat, whom he told to drink his blood using Leech Life. Unable to see her Arbok's pattern, Agatha had Arbok bind Koga. However, she and her Arbok were defeated by Blue's Golduck's Confusion. With Agatha out of the way, Blue and Koga proceeded to move on further into Cerise Island. Her Arbok tried to use Poison Sting, but Koga evaded its attack.[21] While Blue and Koga were going through the maze, Agatha had her Gengar hide in their shadows.[22]

Blue carried Koga, who claimed they were walking in circles. They found his Arbok's discarded tail, and even noticed Agatha was gone. Koga also started to feel weaker than usual. Blue warned him not to strain himself, but Koga felt it wasn't just because of loss of blood. They turned around and saw Gengar was draining their energy, and was hiding in their shadows. Koga was lying down, as Blue dealt with Gengar.[23] Koga had his Koffing emit smoke to signalize to Blue when Gengar would appear. Blue managed to defeat Gengar with help from his Arbok's severed tail. Koga was pleased by Blue's improvement in his skills, and would note them the next time he would face him. The shadows around Agatha's battleground were diminished by Golbat's Confuse Ray. Koga read the message in the sky, sent by Starmie, that the forces of the Elite Four were trying to obtain badges to extract the energy for their plans. Agatha, however, waved her cane, causing spikes to fall on Koga, who protected himself with his Muk and vanished.[24]

Fortunately, Bruno saved Koga from Cerise Island. The two saw they were former criminals and started training with each other, improving each other's skills.[3] Koga's whereabouts were not known after the battle ended.[24]

Gold & Silver arc

Koga left his Gym, which was empty and without a leader. The Association spoke of the problem, seeing they had to be careful about which candidate should be for his Gym.[25]

Crystal arc

During the Gym Leaders' tournament, Janine retreated and tried to search for her father, convinced he was watching her battle.[26]

Lt. Surge faced his former subordinates, Ken, Harry and Al. Since they did not respond, Lt. Surge made them remember how they served Giovanni, alongside Koga and Sabrina, too.[2]

Bruno and Koga faced Red and Blue, their former enemies.[27] Red and Blue mistook they were to fight them and sent Espeon and Rhydon to battle their Tentacruel and Tyrogue. However, Bruno had his Tyrogue smash a rock, as they both exclaimed they were here to help them. Both of them helped dig through the caverns. Bruno also explained he felt that the reason for all the chaos was the time-traveling Pokémon, Celebi, which was seen at Ilex Forest.[3]

Bruno and Koga recruited two other members of a former criminal organisation, Will and Karen, to join the new Elite Four.[28]